Thursday, January 2, 2014

Communications Act Update Planned


Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI),
Chairman of the House
Energy & Commerce
Committee.
(House of Reps. Photo)

Rep. Greg Walden, W7EQI, Chairman of the Communications
and Technology Subcommittee (House of Reps. Photo)
Citing the need for the law to keep pace with rapidly-changing communications technology, the two Congressmen in charge of telecommunications policy in the House of Representatives say they are planning a comprehensive review and update of the Communications Act. Representatives Fred Upton (R-MI) - Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee - and Greg Walden, W7EQI (R-OR) - Chairman of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee - say the effort will take over a year. Walden said the Communications Act - first passed in 1934 and last updated in 1996 - is now "painfully out of date" and said the committee's goal is "to make sure this critical sector of our economy thrives because of the laws around it, not in spite of them." No timeline was given in the committee's announcement.